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“Lots of things,” Jay shot back. “Not quite as many as if you were here, though.”
I rolled my eyes, even as my body tingled.
“Yeah,” I chuckled again. “I’m sure.”
“We’re nailing thingsdeep, too,” Jay said enticingly. “On ladders. Shirtless.”
His words conjured an immediate image to mind. It wasn’t disappointing.
“You should come and see.”
There it was again: the invitation. God, it would be so easy to say yes. I bit my lip to distract myself, even as my breath quickened.
“We’ll be drilling and screwing things later, too.”
“Well,” I said carefully, “as tempting as it might be to help the three of youscrewthings—”
“Two of us,” Jay corrected me. “Luca’s not here.”
“Still,” I sighed, mentally kicking myself for what I was about to say next. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to pass. Thanks for the offer, though.”
“But—”
Somehow I managed to end the call and push the phone away. It wasn’t easy, not by a longshot.
But it’s the right thing to do.
Was it? The more womanly parts of my body weren’t so sure.
It’s the sane thing to do, at least. In the long run.
I stared back at the phone, a good part of me willing it to ring again. Luckily it didn’t. I’d decided over the course of the week that while the other night was beyond fucking amazing, being friends with Tyler, Jay and Luca was my only real option. Every other choice might be fun in the short term, but I’d get hurt in the long run.
And it was about time, for once, I started thinking about the long run.
“It’s all for the best,” I told myself out loud, letting out a long, heavy sigh.
The steam from the shower embraced me from all directions as I stepped inside.
Nineteen
TYLER
The knock at the door wasn’t at all unexpected. After all, we’d ordered Chinese food. Then again…
“Jenna??”
She stepped inside and stripped off her coat without a word. Beneath it she wore a comfy-looking but stained sweat-shirt, and the cutest pair of women’s overalls, splattered with paint.
“I came to help,” she said definitively. “And that’s all.”
Jay’s mouth dropped open as she moved past us, glided over to the fireplace, and backed up as close as she dared to it.
“And maybe to get out of my cold apartment for a while,” she admitted.
Jenna’s eyes darted over the rubble-strewn foyer, where Jay was still frozen on his wooden stepladder. After assessing what we’d been doing, she set her hands on her shapely hips.
“Also, I had to see if you reallywerebare-chested,” she added playfully. “Which of course, you’re not.”
